The Pact(58)

Speechless.

Turned on as fucking hell.

And speechless.

Oh, my good god, what the hell was that?

I’m not sure if I’m more surprised by what came out of his mouth or that it’s Linden who’s saying it. Probably both. I mean, given his parade of leggy women and his frankness toward sex, it’s not that it surprises me at all.

It’s just a bit of a shock to hear him saying it about me.

Oh, and a turn on. I mentioned that, didn’t I?

I adjust in my seat and immediately know he’s right about the panty soaking prediction.

“Clenching for me already?” he says and then he straightens up, going back to nursing his beer at the bar like everyone else. Meanwhile I am fucking clenching, throbbing, as his words still swirl around my head and make my legs squeeze together. I’m not sure I’ve ever wanted to screw someone this badly before.

Then again, we’ve had years and years of foreplay.

“Busy night, aye,” Linden says and I have to shake my head to get back in the game. He’s talking to James, who is back in front of us and pouring him another pint. I have a feeling Linden doesn’t suffer from whisky dick.

“Yeah,” James says, “but it’s good for business.” He looks over and me and frowns. “You feeling okay there, Steph?”

“What, why?” I ask, panicking a little.

He gestures to his own face. “You’re all flushed. Like, feverish.”

“Oh,” I say and then let my shoulders slump a bit, attempting to play it off. “Yeah, I’m not feeling too well.”

“I told you, you’ve been working too hard,” James says teasingly.

“I know, I know,” I tell him. I want to tell him that I did just take last weekend off so I could go to Sea Ranch with them and that I am hiring now so that an employee will lighten my load but suddenly I don’t feel like getting caught in a conversation with him. I only want to talk to Linden, to think about Linden, to find out what the next step is, if I’m brave enough to take it and if his actions equal his promises.

Maybe Linden senses this because he puts his hand on my shoulder, and just like old times, says, “Okay baby blue, James is right, you don’t look well. Let’s call you a cab.”

“On it,” says James as he picks up the phone and hands me my coat, which I had him store behind the bar. I shuck it on and wave goodbye to him while he’s on hold and then Linden is grabbing me by the elbow and leading me out the door.

Outside a few people are smoking and laughing as wisps of fog swirl around and I know it will be at least a few minutes before a cab arrives. I can’t help but wonder if I am actually being sent home but then Linden slides his hand down from my elbow all the way to my hand and holds it. He squeezes once and then doesn’t let go.

“I’m going with you,” he says and his eyes glint in the streetlights. “And we’re going to my place first. Just so you know.”

“What about James?”

He tilts his head, considering. “I don’t want James to be concerned with anything we’re about to do. I don’t want to fuck up our little trinity. But this, me taking you to a cab, hell the both of us sharing a cab, it’s something we’ve done a million times before. Nothing has really changed, Steph. It’s only going to get better.”

Nothing has really changed but the old Linden – my friend Linden – wouldn’t molest me in the back of a cab.

Although, that’s not what happens at all. When the cab finally pulls up and we get in the back seat, there is a considerable amount of distance between us. I for sure thought he’d take this opportunity to finish what he started but he just stares out the window at the rows of houses and the orange glow of the fog reflecting the city lights.

It’s a cab ride that borders on awkward and I don’t like feeling awkward around him. And then I realize how clammy my palms are and how I am so god damn nervous about what might happen – am I actually about to have sex with Linden? – I feel more like a girl than I do a woman.

I wonder if he’s nervous too. He seems so cool and calm, not that that’s out of the ordinary, not for him.

When the cab pulls up to his apartment, though, he pays the driver and then takes my hand leading me up the stairs to the foyer. It’s not that late but our footsteps echo as we walk and as he swipes his key card I look behind me to the street. It’s eerily quiet, the mist muffling city sounds. It makes everything seem larger than life.

Maybe it is all larger than life right now.





CHAPTER FOURTEEN

STEPHANIE



Linden leads me down the hallway to his first floor apartment, back to holding my hand again¸ and even though I’ve walked down past these white walls with the flashy gold apartment number plates and tiled floors a million times before, it all looks different now.